


My Thoughts on Goodbye Stranger (8.17)

by ceirdwenfc



Category: Supernatural
Genre: Episode: s08e17 Goodbye Stranger, Meta, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-27
Updated: 2013-03-27
Packaged: 2017-12-06 17:02:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,563
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/738026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceirdwenfc/pseuds/ceirdwenfc





	My Thoughts on Goodbye Stranger (8.17)

 

To start, I thought this was an exceptional episode. It had so much in it and so much to think about, I’m kind of sad that the focus for the last week has been on Meg and Cas. I've written my thoughts on the two of them in a couple of places, so I will leave them out of this piece, but suffice it to say, I liked them in this, I liked the subtext, I liked where they said they had been and their 'plans' for the future. None of that takes anything away from Dean and Cas in my opinion any more than any of Dean's lovers take anything away from their relationship. So, onward!

The funny parts of this episode, I found _very_ funny. _Voluptuous Asian Beauties_ – LOL. _Yeah, okay, 10 minutes_ , _Megstiel_ and all they myriad of faces that Dean makes at both Sam and at the camera, not to mention the whole _'shut up Meg'_ part outside of the warehouse.

Castiel is finally back, and he comes to the rescue, but not any rescue.

" _Take care of my little brother_ " – This is Dean's prayer, his request, his plea and it overrides Naomi's brainwashing. This says a great deal about the bond, profound or otherwise between him and Dean. It is deep within his soul, so that even when he's being kept from Dean basically against his will, he is still connected to him. Castiel doesn’t come because of the strange-haired demon or even to help Dean. He comes to save Sam because it was the _one_ thing that Dean asked for with his heart.

_Demonic decoder ring_ – gotta love Dean and his one-liners.

_"Do I have to kill her?"_ I've spoken about this before, but I found this very telling in regards to Castiel's feelings for Meg. He genuinely sounds conflicted; this was not tactical. In this moment, he is willing to do what he has to do to Dean, but not to Meg. He is visibly relieved when Naomi says not to kill her.

_Working with a demon is unclean_ – this shows that Naomi has not one clue about his feelings for Meg and one of the reasons that she wasn't prepared for the question. It doesn't occur to her that Castiel has actual feelings for Meg, whether they're romantic or friendship doesn't matter. The thought doesn't enter into Naomi's head that anything with Meg would be a positive. _She is a demon. She is unclean. I feel this way, and so do you._

I loved the subtext and the not so subtext between Cas and Meg as I've mentioned before.

_Megstiel_ – LOL – I spit water. Seriously, I found this hilarious.

_Shut up Meg_ – I love that sort of repetition, increase in and break the tension at the same time.

_You're damaged in ways I can't heal_ – this worries me. If Sam continues to go through the trials, and he must if they expect to close the gates of Hell, what will he be on the other side of it?

_Protect Meg_ – all looks of surprise.

And was it just me, but was there kind of a jealous look from Dean kind of along the lines of _protect Meg, why do you want to protect Meg, what the fuck, aren't you my boyfriend, fuck Meg_ and then the look passes from his face in a yeah, too much projecting there.

Sam looks like crap and he's getting his ass kicked by every two bit demon that shows up. This is not good in so many ugly ways.

This whole segment in the crypt is so important to what happens between Dean and Castiel after they find the tablet.

_"What should I do?"_

_"Handle it."_

This was a mistake and it was Naomi's collapse. This was the crack and when Dean broke it open it broke her connection. She never should have allowed Castiel to take the initiative and make a decision. She should have given him a more rigid direction.  Up until this point, he had done absolutely everything she had asked without question. Once she told him to handle it, she gave him an edge of free will back. Her arrogance will always be her downfall.

She tells him to handle it and Castiel instinctively and immediately trusts Dean and points out the box to him.

_You've done this a thousand times_ – not an exaggeration.

_Let your vessel do what you know is right_ – here she is projecting her own feelings, what little she has of them. She knows it's right to kill Dean for the end result, but Castiel loves the humans, as he was commanded to do. Naomi can't override G-d's commands no matter how noble she thinks she is, and again, that will contribute to her downfall.

_My unicorn_ – I think this has less to do with an ultimate picket fence wish for Meg with Cas, and more of letting Sam know that she's not entirely evil. She has a one track mind and that is to protect herself. I don't believe that she was sacrificing herself here, but buying time and that Castiel would return for her. However, she knew that Sam could see what was between she and Cas and he would know who that was by calling him a unicorn – the person who could take her out of her demon life, while Amelia was Sam's person who could take him out of his hunting life, and she does this so that Crowley doesn't know that Castiel is there yet.

Good death for Meg; I was sad to see her go. Rachel Miner did a wonderful job. I hated Meg. Hated. And by this show, I respected her and wanted more of her badness while looking over my shoulder at when she would ultimately betray them. She might have liked Cas and said she was _kinda_ good, but she would have turned on all of them – she's a demon. She said so herself.

Just noticed that Cas has broken Dean's arm and he keeps him held by the wrist the entire time he's beating him.

"We're family. We need you. I need you."

I thought this was perfect. I'm glad they took out the 'I love you' – it would have come across as a tactical ploy. Dean was begging him and letting him beat on him, and not beating back, barely defending himself, the whole time trying to get through to the real Castiel.

The flinch when Cas touches him – the whimper – this was so painful to watch. He was so afraid that Cas was going to continue hurting him; he expected him to finish him off. I'm not sure that I could get through this kind of beating.

Cas keeping his hand on Dean and Dean grabbing his wrist, but not in a defending way, but in a need to touch you, to connect with you somehow way – it looked like he was trying to put all kinds of apology and love into that one touch and he was afraid that if he let go, he would never be able to touch Dean again.

Naomi and Crowley – WTF?!

Slight bit of surprise there. And what the hell, no wing whoosh? So, is she not an angel? In another meta that I read (from andythanfiction), he mentions her namesake in the Bible, and I'd be interested in taking that one step further beyond the Book of Ruth and her name change to Mara, but to her lineage and genealogy to King David and Jesus Christ. This will actually be something that I'm going to write in the near future when I have enough time to devote to the research and reading that book as well as reading up on Mesopotamia.

Now, not entirely in retrospect – Crowley lied about who he is? Oh my, I'm shocked, shocked I say.

Haven't seen you in a Dark Age – this could be simply witty banter, a reference to that time period or a reference to her age – she did look annoyed, but with Crowley there could be any number of reasons for that.

_"If I didn't know you better"_

Mesopotamia – our time together, a lover not a fighter – this is pretty clear to me that they were in fact lovers or he was trying to be despite being on opposite sides. It also implies that he'd prefer to work with her again rather than working at odds since they're more or less after the same thing.

There is also too much anger to be non-romantic.

_Tart stole my move_ – I found the use of the word tart interesting – he could have said any derogatory word – slut, whore, bitch, but he uses tart – I think this is significant. Or it could just be Mark Shepherd and Moose – assigning nicknames (although I don't know but I'm pretty sure Amanda Tapping won't take to Tart as well as Jared took to Moose.) ;)

Dean should not be mad at Sam. Sam tried to tell him and Dean basically said STFU, and actually Sam should call him on that. It's okay for Dean to be upset and not want to be lied to anymore, but Sam tried to tell him at least twice, and Dean said he couldn't take any more truth, so –

At the end – Castiel on the bus – there is something very familiar about that moment to me.


End file.
